Home > Trip Reports > November 11, 2004, Baker/Table

November 11, 2004, Baker/Table

11/11/04
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
5211
12
Posted by Matt C on 11/11/04 6:23am
I ended up in the Mount Baker parking lot at 9:30 after making a last minute decision to make some turns. It was an icy skin to the shoulder of Table where I saw some knuckledragger jibbers considering the location of their hit. Wet loose snow slides down to grass were visible on the south face of Table so I proceeded to the top of Table. Skinned out towards "Euro" bowl which looked bulletproof. Dropped off the west side of Table down to Iceberg Lake. Skinned up to the Mazama/Table saddle. Coverage was minimal in some spots (down to dirt on some parts of the trail). Was able to make some turns in buttery corn on the way down towards Bagley Lakes. Unfortunately, coverage was an issue on the way down which forced me to post hole through the lower boulder field. The marmots must have found it funny because I am sure I heard them laughing every time I dropped crotch deep in snow. A large slab avalanche (released down to bare rock) off Table had made its way down to the flats around Bagley Lake. I was entertained at the end of the day to see some boarders chatter their way down the icy slopes of Table. If you are heading up this weekend...pray for a huge dump.
Hmmmm...never tried to post a picture before...lets see if this works...



If it don't work go here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/mattyshred

Wonder if its hard to create my own webpage???

Hey, Im new and I just moved to Bellingham, I bought a Baker Seasons pass and have Snowboarded their a few times. Ive never explored the backcountry at baker, Can anyone give me any sort of directions or a map? Im experienced, spend many years in whistlers backcountry. The type of terrain im lookin for is good terrain for Booters, Steeps, and Cliffs. Thx chris.

... Can anyone give me any sort of directions ...


First, get the proper equipment and take a snow safety seminar. There you will meet some others in your boat. Next, meet some experienced folks who will take you out to the obvious lines -- the hemispheres, the BB chutes, the Arm.


I would agree with Tim. If you wanna get to know the Baker BC you should check out an avalanche clinic. I think it's Baker policy to have some avalanche knowledge along with proper equipment if you wanna use the lifts to access the BC terrain. Talk to people as you ride the lift this year to see where the goods can be found...I will probably be one of them.

The poster did say that he/she has many years of experience, suggesting that a snow safety class might not be necessary.  

Of course, a stranger who pops up on an internet forum asking for directions to "steeps and cliffs" should probably not expect much in the way of answers. Best get to know people gradually so they can check out your skills and style. This should not be taken personally.

As for Matt C, thanks for the scouting and trip report.

Matt C, thanks for the report and very nice photos. I looked at the code you used to insert the photo in your post - it looks OK and the URL works if you paste it into the browser address bar. I think others have found that Webshots blocks the displaying of their site's photo files on other sites, so I don't know that there is any way around this except to put your photos somewhere else.

Thanks Charles

I didn't think it would work...as I notice other TAY members who have Webshots don't usually insert photos into their trip reports. I may try to design a bare-bones website of my own so I can post photos and insert them into TAY. That may be my late night winter project.

If you have some "web space", for example from your ISP, you could probably put your photos there and then link to them from your TRs. You wouldn't have to make them accessible through your own web pages, although maybe you want to do that anyway. There are also other free photo hosts (eg MSN) which do seem to allow the kind of linking that Webshots blocks.

I'm still waiting for that magical day when one may upload directly from "my briefcase", full of beautiful pics, to the post....dreaming......still dreaming!

Dare to dream Toby...dare to dream!

I stole that saying from a Canadian beer commercial!!!

Thanks for all the info Charles...atleast I've got a few options.

Canadian beer sucks, eh?

ohhhh ya...you will be eatin my powder rooster tail tomorow and on baker opening day there buddy!!!

CHEERS!!!

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november-11-2004-baker-table
Matt C
2004-11-11 14:23:45